July 4th Home and Away

The weekend leading up to July 4th was packed with activities. Friday night after a stroll in town, we stopped at REI and checked out the backpack style kid carriers. Along with another family (who had a toddler that was not very impressed by the backpacks) we peppered the sales associate with questions, had her help us get fitted and J walked around the store with Little harnessed in a backpack. We were a little worried about how he'd react, given that it was nearing bedtime and we were all a little tired, but felt a huge relief when J hoisted him up and he immediately called out "oooh oooh ooh!" For any of you who have spent even a small amount of time with Mr. M know very well that this was his seal of approval -- Little loved the backpack. After thinking about it for just a short while, we went back to REI and picked up the carrier as an early birthday present for J. Little cooed and shouted and smiled the whole way home. He loves sitting up high and having a great view of what's going on in the world. 

To really test out his tolerance for the new pack, we headed down to the waterfront for the Portland Blues Festival. It was a pretty warm afternoon, but Little bobbed along to some Zydeco music in the shade and really only fussed when we took him out of the backpack (notice how stoked he is while we pose for a family photo). Also, look at how long those legs are these days. Geez, he's starting to look more and more like a little boy.

As if one adventure wasn't enough for Saturday, we took Mr. M to his first Timbers game and sat right in the action with the Army. I was a little worried about the noise, but Little actually liked all of the waving flags, balloons, and chants (he even bobbed his head when he heard some familiar ones). Unfortunately, he only made it through the first 30 minutes of the game. However, if we didn't have general admission seats, we wouldn't have had to show up 107 minutes early and he might have lasted well into the second half. 

On Sunday, we packed our things and headed to Hood River for the night and spent the afternoon with friends and her family. Joanie's parents have two dogs, Sadie and Minnie, who were very sweet to Little. Sadie loved bringing him toys and Mr. M would grab on so they could play tug of war. Then, Sadie would give him a million kisses on his hands and face and in his ears. Little hated the ear licking and would run away, but then come right back and start the game again. It was pretty great. On Monday morning we claimed our spots in town and watched the Hood River July 4th parade and picnicked in the park afterward. Tired and full, we drove home Monday night and I crashed at 8:30pm. Little was pretty tuckered out too and slept nearly all night.